Former SMHA official quit amid money concerns

Director of Stark Metro Housing affiliate resigned in 2009 before she was fired.

Tim Botos

The director of a Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority affiliate was offered a choice: Resign or be fired.

Angela Battle, who had headed the nonprofit Ruthe and Isadore Freed Housing Corp. for six years, chose to resign. It was September 2009. SMHA officials suspected her of siphoning money from clients.

The Repository has examined hundreds of documents, and interviewed some individuals involved at the time. Together, they suggest Battle pocketed rent money from clients, covered her tracks by doctoring agency documents, told lies and misused her authority.

“She was ... told to resign or be fired,” said attorney John Wirtz, outside legal counsel for SMHA for three decades.

Wirtz said then-Executive Director Michael Williams brought the matter to his attention in 2009. Wirtz said he wasn’t provided many details, though Williams indicated Battle was suspected of stealing money. Wirtz said he turned over that information, in person, to the Canton office of the FBI.

Battle — who has not been charged with a crime — acknowledged during an interview for this story that she stole “only about $300.” However, documents and interviews indicate that as much as several thousand dollars were missing and unaccounted for from tenants who said they paid Battle directly.

It’s unclear if Battle is part of an ongoing FBI and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General investigation of SMHA. That probe, at the very least, is examining issues uncovered during a HUD audit this summer, in which SMHA was told to pay back $10.5 million in federal funds that were improperly spent on nonpublic housing programs, and/or without approval from HUD.

But here is what is known about Battle’s situation:

n Wirtz said the FBI interviewed a handful of SMHA employees about her.

n The U.S. Attorney’s office in Cleveland subpoenaed her personnel records in 2011.

n A Freed client once lodged a complaint about her, saying he paid rent to her, according to a letter written to Williams.

n Battle placed at least two clients in units logged in as “empty” or not accounted for in official agency records, then personally collected the rent, according to an internal agency roster of Freed-owned houses, the letter to Williams, and internal agency notes.

n A year before she resigned, Battle was suspended for three days for dishonesty in other job-related matters, according to a suspension letter she received.

The now 50-year-old Battle was hired as Freed director in 2003. With a background in real-estate development and as a loan officer, she had worked for a Cleveland bank and at Countrywide Home Loans in Jackson Township. She was selected for the Freed post from a field of 19 applicants.

Freed ’s mission is to provide affordable permanent housing for those with low incomes. Founded as an SMHA spinoff in 1996, the agency has operated programs largely funded by grants. Although its office is in the SMHA building in downtown Canton, Freed is governed by a separate board of directors.

Two of the five board members at the time, Rodney Reasonover and Dan Fonte (who also serves on the SMHA board), said recently they were not aware of the allegations against Battle when she resigned. Another board member, the Rev. Ron Klingler, recalled that “it was brought to our attention.” Board members India Jenkins and Betty Jackson did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Battle’s problems at Freed actually began in 2008. She was suspended for three days for “repeated disregard of stated rules and procedures,” according to her suspension letter. In the letter, then-SMHA Executive Director Fletcher cited five instances of dishonesty and untimeliness in Battle’s filing and reporting duties.

Battle, who earned $51,000 a year in salary, was “voluntarily terminated” on Sept. 21, 2009, according to her personnel file.

That was at about the same time SMHA officials learned of financial discrepancies that involved Battle. Two discrepancies noted in internal SMHA documents involved a Freed-owned house on Bonnot Place NE in Canton and a Section 8 rental at Hillview Apartments, and undocumented rent payments.

In January 2008, as Freed was attempting to evict Eugene Haynes for unpaid rent of more than $5,000, its director, Battle, moved him into a different home — the one on Bonnot.

Although the Bonnot house was classified “empty,” according to Freed records, Haynes said he lived there and paid rent to Battle personally. Internal SMHA notes compiled before Battle’s resignation also state that Haynes was living in the house at that time.

“I was paying (Battle),” the now 70-year-old Haynes recalled in an interview for this story. “I used to bring it to her at the office ... sometimes she’d come to the house to pick it up, usually on the second of the month.”

It’s unclear how much Haynes paid Battle in the 20 months she could have collected rent, but Haynes said it always was paid in cash. He said he can’t recall the amount. A lease Haynes signed states it was $388 month. However, Battle said it was more like $90 a month, because the balance was to be paid from a housing assistance program.

Freed had no record of payments received from Haynes, according to a Sept. 18, 2009 letter from the agency.

“I’m not disputing that,” Battle, in a brief phone interview for this story, said of keeping Haynes’ money. “But it was only about $300.”

In late September 2009, a few days after Battle resigned, Haynes and social worker Kris Snyder wrote a letter to Williams. In it, they detailed Haynes’ history in dealing with SMHA, Freed and Battle.

Haynes had become alarmed when a collection agency contacted him about his $5,000-plus bill, so he asked Snyder to intervene. In the letter, Snyder wrote that she’d spoken to Battle, who blamed the situation on the fact Haynes and another client had almost identical Social Security numbers.

“Angela also made the comment that this was not the first time she and I had talked about the mistake and that she would correct it in the system and this was not the responsibility of (Haynes),” Snyder wrote.

Another man, placed in a Hillview unit in August 2008, claimed to have paid $700 for rent and security deposit. However, that payment and any subsequent rent for the ensuing year, which amounted to a total of $3,548, was not logged on agency records, according to internal SMHA documents. It’s unclear if the man ever paid any rent or who he paid it to, but none ever was received by SMHA, according to a Sept. 19, 2009 letter from SMHA.

“He never paid me no $700,” Battle said, explaining that the man was a member of her church.

The other four current SMHA board members, who have no direct oversight over Freed operations, did not comment for this story. Members Linda Bell and Marilyn Frazier said Fonte could speak on their behalf. Jeff McDaniels said he’d “heard some things,” but said he had no first-hand knowledge of Battle’s situation. Board member Frank Beane did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Current SMHA Executive Director Herman Hill, who was hired in February, said he had no first-hand knowledge of Battle’s situation.

Fletcher, the former SMHA executive director who hired Battle in 2003 — and suspended her in 2008 — has not returned numerous messages left by The Repository to comment on Battle or other aspects of the SMHA investigation.

Williams, who succeeded Fletcher in May 2009 and resigned at the end of 2012, had denied a Repository request in August to be interviewed for stories about SMHA. He said he was retired from the agency and would not answer any questions. He also did not respond to a message delivered to his home last week.

Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @tbotosREP